AI literacy has never mattered more than it does right now.
With Grok 4 launching on July 9th (today) and ChatGPT-5 expected later this month, we’re entering (yet another) new era of rapidly evolving AI capabilities.
Yes, I get tired too.
These advancements aren’t just incremental improvements—they represent fundamental leaps that will transform how we interact with technology. Understanding how AI actually works, at its most basic and critical levels, is no longer optional; it’s essential. And the longer that’s delayed, the harder it is to catch up.
While concepts like tokenization or embeddings are widely discussed online (I’ve discussed both in this newsletter), no existing guide offers a comprehensive yet accessible overview of all the key concepts required for genuine AI literacy. Often explanations become either too technical or too superficial, leaving most users unable to meaningfully apply their knowledge.
That’s what makes this guide different. It distills the essence of AI into 26 clear, practical concepts, each explained simply and paired with examples illustrating why they matter to everyday users—not just engineers or data scientists. And yes, every single one has a nice mnemonic device to help you remember, tied to a letter of the alphabet!
Whether you’re an entrepreneur leveraging AI in your business, a student preparing for the future job market, or simply someone curious about the tools reshaping our world (we have taught sand to kind of think, after all), knowing these concepts now will give you a decisive advantage.
Like, I can’t state that enough. You spend a few minutes going through this video or podcast, you read through the article, you grab the cheat sheet (of course there’s a cheat sheet it’s Nate), you’re gonna be ahead of 98% of people doing AI. I should know, I talk to enough AI people to have a pretty good sample.
Anyway, instead of just seeing new models like Grok 4 and ChatGPT-5 as mysterious or terrifying black boxes, you’ll have the insight to understand their behaviors, troubleshoot issues, and fully harness their potential from day one. You won’t be out of your depth when I talk about the parameterization or agentic capabilities of these models in the next couple of days (and I bet I will).
This guide bridges the AI literacy gap. It helps you transition from being a casual AI user to a true AI power user, confidently navigating and mastering the groundbreaking tools arriving this month and beyond.
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